"I admit that it would be so under ordinary circumstances. But, your Excellency, I must think of my father. I must try to save him. I do not see how I am to do it, I confess; but while there is the slightest chance of getting fuller information than we now possess of what Silwood did, I cannot abandon all hope. You see my position?" "And sympathize with it; but still--still, it is all very irregular." "But you will help me?" "There will be difficulties. You see, I cannot tell the Italian authorities what you have told me. I cannot use the same arguments with them that you have used with me. Still, I am going to try what I can do. There is a detective in all of us, and you have excited the detective in me, and if I can get that grave opened for you, it shall be opened." Gilbert thanked the Ambassador warmly. "I shall be in Rome the day after to-morrow," said Lord Prestonkirk, as he shook hands with Gilbert. "Come and see me in the afternoon." CHAPTER XXXII Gilbert returned to Rome, well content with his success so far. He felt that Lord Prestonkirk was genuinely interested, and therefore would do all he possibly could to help him. But, at the same time, what he had heard concerning James Russell filled his mind with disquiet and uncertainty. The presence of James Russell in Northern Italy at or about the date of Silwood's reported death was in itself startling. True, there were many James Russells in the world, and this particular James Russell who had been wounded in the streets of Genoa, might not be the James Russell whom he regarded as Silwood's confederate or accomplice; but Gilbert had little or no doubt that he was the man he wanted so much to find. And if this were the case, what then? What was this man doing in Northern Italy, a few miles from Camajore? The answer evidently was that he had been in touch with Silwood. Again Gilbert was forced to ask himself, Might not Silwood, after all, be dead and buried at Camajore, as the Syndic had said? If that were so, then Silwood must have communicated a knowledge of the secret chamber to Russell before his death, and the secret chamber must have been opened by Russell. On a review of all the circumstances, Gilbert was compelled to acknowledge that this might be the explanation. If it were, it was obvious that he must try harder than ever to lay James Russell by the heels. But he was still determined to have the grave opened. For if Silwood's body were in it, then there was no more to be said on that head, and Cooper Silwood would disappear finally from the story, leaving the mystery of Lincoln's Inn for ever unsolved. Gilbert wrote to his father, Francis Eversleigh, an account of what he had done and of what he had heard with regard to James Russell. He also communicated with the private detective he was employing to track Russell down. At the time fixed, Gilbert went to see the Ambassador, but it was only to meet with disappointment.